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Quantitative and Qualitative research - Research design classifications

5 important questions on Quantitative and Qualitative research - Research design classifications

What are the essentials of research design?

- An activity- and time-based plan

- Based on research question

- Guides the selection of sources and information

- Acts as a framework for specifying the relationships amongst variables

- Outlines procedures for every research activity

What does the resarch design entail? What does it tell (content-wise).

it will tell the techniques used to gather data, the kind of sampling, the time and cost constraints, what kind of answers the study is looking for and which methods it will aplly to find them.

What is the difference between exploratory & formal study?

The difference is between the degree of structure and immediate objective of the study.
Exploratory studies have loose structures with objective of discvoering future research tasks. Immediate purpose is usually to develop hypotheses.
Formal study begins where exploratory study leavs off. It begins with descriptive account of current situation, followed by hypotheses and research quetions and involves precise procedures and data source specifications. Goal of formal research is to provide a valid representation of the current state and to test hypotheses or answer the research question as posed.
Though, the difference between the two is not too dichotomous.